


The one where Death fixes the world

by Pufosenie23



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fix-It, Fixing Heaven (Supernatural), Fixing Plot Holes, Happy Castiel (Supernatural), I am so not over that episode, I cannot stress this enough, I'm not letting my baby stay dead, M/M, We need it dammit, canon destiel, it's CANON bitches, my theory that could totally work shut up, post 15×18
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27491686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pufosenie23/pseuds/Pufosenie23
Summary: All hope is lost for Dean, after Cas, his protector, his best friend, the love of his damned miserable life, sacrifices himself to save him.Again.He doesn't have it in him to continue fighting but as it turns out, the solution to all their troubles lies in Death's hands.The original Death's hands.This should be a joy ride.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Michael/Adam Milligan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a awhile now and I keep obsessing over the last episode(as everyone in the fandom) and this was just too perfect for me to resist writing it.

There was a hole in the world.

There was a Cas-shaped hole in the world and Dean was still struggling to comprehend it. He felt wrong-footed and incomplete as he lay there on the Bunker's floor, staring at the wall that just a few minutes ago turned a black gooey substance and swallowed up Billie and.. And Cas.

Cas, that had made a deal.

Cas, that had, once again, sacrificed himself to save Dean.

Cas, the stupid angel that had called Dean selfless and loving and all those other things that Dean clearly didn't deserve.

Cas, that loved him.

Cas, that was gone.

Gone... _Dead_. Stuck forever in a place where Dean couldn't reach him. Could never reach him.

_Fuck_!

As realization struck, Dean felt like his heart had just been ripped out of his chest and squeezed painfully until only shreds remained. He felt breathless, his lungs couldn't get enough air, his face was burning and his entire body was trembling. 

One sentence was replaying itself in his mind over and over again, those bright, blue eyes(always so blue, an impossible shade that left Dean breathless every time they settled on him) sparkling with tears and a happiness that felt so out of place in their current situation.

_"I love you"_

Dean sucked in a desperate gulp of air and hit his head on the wall behind him. _Hard_. Hoping that the physical pain would drown out the hurricane happening in his chest. No such luck. 

_"The one thing I want, I know I can never have."_

Those particular words felt like blunt knives trying to slowly carve Dean's heart out.

So much time, wasted, just because Dean had been so stupid. Looking back, it was painfully obvious. Cas had lived for millennia, thousands upon thousands of years being a heavenly soldier before he met Dean. Before he rescued Dean from Hell. He spent all that time with the other angels, his family, his home... And he gave all that up, chose the Winchesters... Chose _Dean_ over all of that, again and again, after only a few years spent on Earth. A blip in Cas' existence. He sacrificed himself, let himself be tortured and mocked, had allowed Lucifer in, had struck deals and exhausted himself and all of it had been for Dean. To save Dean, to please Dean, to gain Dean's approval and affection and _Jesus fucking Christ---_

It hurt.

It hurt so fucking much and it was even more painful that Cas thought- He thought that he couldn't have it. That his feelings were one-sided. He had been so sure of it and Dean couldn't stand it because--because it wasn't true.

Dean _loved_ Cas. He loved him like he's never loved anyone else in his entire life. Not Cassie, not Lisa, not anyone. Those had been nice, yes. But Cas... Cas was his everything. He needed Cas like he needed air to breathe and water to drink. Cas was crucial for Dean's very survival and he thought that Cas... He thought that Cas knew that.

But he didn't.

He hadn't known and now, now he would never know because he was gone and Dean never got to tell him, didn't have enough time to process, didn't know what to do and how to do it and then Cas was dead, gone forever and _how was he supposed to live on now--_

"My, my, it is quite a mess you've got here, Dean."

His eyes snapped open(when had he closed them?) at the sound of a new, vaguely familiar voice. His vision was blurry and he now realized that he was crying and panting, out of breath like he’d just ran a marathon. He probably looked like a miserable mess. Which was fitting 'cause that' s exactly how he felt.

He blinked once, twice, trying to get a grip on his emotions, but his efforts were futile. His feelings were all over the place and the gaping hole in his chest where his heart used to be was getting bigger by the second.

He squinted trying to distinguish the blurred silhouette that was looming over him and he wanted to curl up in a ball and stay there till nothing existed anymore when he noticed that whoever that person was, it was wrong. No dirty trench coat( _you have me confused with the other angel, you know, the one in the dirty trench coat who’s in love with you_ ) no messy black hair that seemed so soft and made Dean want to constantly run his fingers through it, no ocean blue eyes regarding him with so much love and adoration and just plain wrong.

And then Dean realized who, or more precisely what, it was and his eyes widened in disbelief.

_“Death???”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Death have a nice, enlightening chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so chapter count and tags have been updated. This story proved to be a bit longer and more complicated than i previously thought,

In any other situation, Dean would have liked to say that, after realizing who exactly was staring at him with those chilling eyes, he’d have gotten quickly to his feet and reached for the gun tacked in the waistband of his pants (even tho he knew it would do nothing to his current company). He would have liked to say that he’d have made an attempt to run or fight or do literally _anything_ else except continue to stay on the cold hard ground of the Bunker and stare numbly at well…Death.

Of course, staring is exactly what he did. He didn’t try anything, why would he? It was useless anyway, trying to escape a most likely furious Death a second time that day(and Jesus Christ when had his life turned into such a shit-show? Ah yeah, since Chuck decided that being a mere spectator to his favourite characters’ lives wasn’t enough). Cas wasn’t there to save him. Cas wasn’t there at all, and the reminder that he would never be again, that loving Dean had _killed_ him broke the hunter’s remaining tatters of his soul into tiny little pieces. Dean couldn’t find it in himself to fight anymore, so he simply continued to stay exactly where he was, ignoring the faint buzzing of his phone. He knew he should answer, he knew Sam was probably driving himself mad with horrible scenarios but what would he even tell him? Shit, what was he going to tell _Jack??_

“I thought I killed you.” Dean heard himself say, the sound of his own voice distant, void of any emotion, the numbness that was slowly taking over his entire being bleeding through.

Death scoffed, looking at Dean, his eyebrow raised in the universal gesture for _“Seriously?”._

“Really, Dean, you and your brother ought to have figured out by now that you can’t really kill me. As long as there is life, there is Death. What you _did_ kill was merely my physical form on this plane of existence. You’ve been me for a day, Dean. How did you think people kept on dying even after my supposed death?”

Dean frowned because okay, point. But really, they had had bigger problems at that time and Dean for one, didn’t really want to think too closely about things like _Why do people keep on dying if Death’s dead?_ if he could avoid it. He was barely coping as it was, without deliberately adding yet another set of problems to his miserable life. At the time he figured he would leave it alone and if it came to bite them in the ass(as it always did it seemed) well, they would cross that bridge when they got to it.

Except that now there was no them.

Now there was only Dean and his tortured soul while his angel, his best friend, what could have been his _lover_ if only Dean had been a little bit bolder and a lot less dense, was now stuck in The Empty for loving Dean. Stuck replaying his worst memories and regrets on a loop for the rest of eternity and _fuck-- down, down,_ ** _ **down**_**!!

He couldn’t think about this right now.

He would have more time later, to drown himself in copious amounts of alcohol in a futile, desperate attempt to drown out the constant ache in his very bones that was Cas’ loss.

For now, he had to focus, had to figure out how and why the original Death was now here, in front of him, and passive-aggressively explaining to him the fact that he couldn’t exactly die.

“What about Billie?”

“Ah, I thought it was an appropriate time to take a break from my duties. Obviously, it hasn’t worked out quite as well as I hoped.” Death mused, his forehead wrinkling even more as he frowned. 

“Are you here to kill me?” Dean asked, a tiny drop of hope seeping through his voice. Dean hated it. Hated that he was so willing to die, after Cas-- After.

Death, for his part, snapped his fingers( Dean did _not_ flinch) and summoned a comfortable looking chair and… were those…nachos?? He sat, placing his left leg over his right one and looked at Dean an almost amused glint in his eyes.

“How peculiar, Dean Winchester, hoping to die. A truly unique sight, indeed. I’m honored, really. But, no, Dean I’m not here to kill you.”

“Yeah well, fuck you too!” Dean growled. Maybe if he provoked him enough--no. Focus. He needed to focus.

“So if you’re not here to kill me, why are you here?”

Death took a nacho between his long, white fingers, examining it with rapt attention.

“ When that nephilim, Jack, exploded in the Empty, a great deal of power was released. In fact, he woke up everything in the Empty. Every angel or demon that has ever existed.” A shiver went down Dean’s spine. That didn’t sound like a good thing.

“ With Chuck snapping everyone out of existence in a futile attempt to kill me and escape his fate, I knew it was time for me to put an end to my little…vacation. I used the energy the nephilim had released to materialize and came here.”

Dean gaped at Death. “ Wait wait wait, what do you mean he’s trying to avoid his fate? What the hell does that mean??”

Death finished his plate of nachos with a hum, snapped the plate to who-knows-were and raised to his feet, wiping his greasy hands with a newly acquired wet rag.

“ Do you remember, Dean, when I told you one day I would reap God Himself?”

How could Dean forget that?? He remembered every vivid detail of that particular meeting. He remembered the sheer terror and awe as he stared Death in the face, expecting to die right then and there for even daring to approach him. But it was nothing like Dean had expected. Instead of certain and instant death, he ate pizza with the Horseman, discovering he had quite a soft spot for greasy food and actually had a civilized chat. A terrifying, but civilized, chat.

So yeah, Dean remembered. He just didn’t know what it meant.

And then it clicked.

Chuck was dying.

He thought back at the anger and desperation Chuck emanated, how he’d do anything to have his ending and nothing else seemed to matter. It’d never made sense to Dean, why Chuck would decide to erase all the other universes, his own creation, just because of a few “characters”. But it was never about that, was it? It was never about some stupid story. Death said he was trying to escape his fate, that in order to do so he snapped everyone out of existence. God was trying to get rid of Death. God was dying.

Only when Death answered with “Indeed he is.” did Dean realize he’d said that out loud.

“ His time is almost up. His death is inevitable and I’ve come to claim him. A new age is awaiting, Dean Winchester and you, your brother and your Nephilim are right in the middle of it.”

The fact that Cas was not included cut Dean right to the bone. He pushed that thought aside. _Later._ He inhaled sharply and finally sat up on shaky feet, dragging a hand over his tear-streaked face.

“ Is that it, are we the only ones left? On the entire planet? _Why??_ Why isn’t Chuck snapping us out of existence too, if he’s so desperate?? Andwhat could we _possibly_ do to stop him? What could 2 humans and a three years old kid possibly do to the fucking ** _ **Almighty???”**_**

**__ **

By the end of his speech Dean was shouting, letting out all the pent up anger, frustration, grief and desperation that have been building up inside him all his life. It wasn’t fair! _It wasn’t fair!_ Why did it always have to be them? The Winchester brothers always at the world’s beck and call, always ready to sacrifice themselves so that others didn’t have to? Always losing the people they loved, time and time again. Taking blow after blow, and somehow still having to find the strength to put one foot in front of the other. When will it all _end??_

Death regarded him with what Dean might have considered was sympathy for a hot minute, but then the Horseman’s eyes regained their usual chilliness. Death tugged loosely at one of the black sleeves of his fancy suit, seemingly bothered by its position. 

“ You and your brother are the only ones left because Chuck can’t control you. He doesn’t have any kind of power over you.”

And for the second time that day, Dean was left speechless. He stared, gaping, at the Horseman of Death, his mind going blank. A weak“What?” was all he could manage through the blockage in his throat.

When Death smiled, Dean felt chills shake him to the core. It was one of the most unnerving experiences he’s ever had and he’s literally been to Hell.

“I’m sure, Dean, that Billie has told you and your brother are the messengers of God’s destruction. She wasn’t lying. You and Sam, it’s your destiny and in order to do so you have the power to defy Him and His wishes. I’ve told you, Dean a new age is coming. It’s time for a power change.”

Dean couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His mind was running a mile per minute. Everything he’s done, everything he and Sam have ever done was out of their own free will. Cas had been right all along. Of course he had been. It was real. They were real.

It was freeing and frightening to think about and any other time Dean would have reacted more strongly, but now he could feel the exhaustion and grief settle deep in his bones, sinking into his very soul and cloaking his thoughts until all Dean could do was lean warily onto the solid wall and blink back tears.

“So we’re free. Chuck can’t kill us, that’s all good, but that doesn’t answer my question. How the fuck do we take him down? Can’t you just reap him and be done with it?” Dean finally croaked out. 

Death scoffed and gave Dean a chilling stare.

“ There are rules that I have to respect and limits even I can’t cross. Tell me, Dean, do you think I would be here, explaining all of this to _you_ , if I could _“Just reap him and be done with it”_???” 

Dean gulped because okay, that’s true. But still, was what he supposed to _do_? Dive head first into a fight with God and hope for the best?

“That Nephilim is the key. Remember that. I’ll come to collect when the time is due.” Death finally said and then vanished into thin air, leaving Dean standing there with more questions than answers and despair pulling at his heart strings.

Then the Bunker door opened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Comments and kudos make a girl's day better.:))

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Comments and kudos are always appreciated and satisfy a starved writer.:))) 
> 
> Remember to stay safe and take care!!


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